Combined mounting and signal device for hand telephones



April 14, 1942. H. F. OBERGFELL COMBINED MOUNTING AND SIGNAL DEVICE FOR HAND TELEBHONES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 5, 1940 INVENTOR HERBERT F. QBERGFELL ATTQRNE-YS April 1942- H. F. OBERGFELL r 2,279,435

COMBINED MOUNTING AND SIGNAL DEVICE FOR HAND TELEPHONES Filed Oct. 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HERBERT F. OBERGFELL A'TTORNEYS' Patented Apr. 14, 1942 COMBINED MOUNTING AND SIGNAL DEVICE FOR HAND TELEPHONES Herbert F. Obergfell, River Forest, I11., assignor to Associated Electric Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application October 5, 1940, Serial No. 359,833

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to combined mounting and signal devices for hand telephones adapted for use at the telephone stations in a telephone system of the directly connected electromagnetic or sound-powered type.

A telephone system of the directly connected electromagnetic or sound-powered type conventionally comprises a two-conductor telephone line and a plurality of associated telephone stations, each telephone station being provided with a telephone instrument of the electromagnetic or sound-powered type which is directly connected to the associated telephone line. Ordinarily, the telephone instrument is of the hand type, including a handle carrying a receiver unit and a transmitter unit, the two units being substantially identical. tem is provided in conjunction with a telephone system of this type for signaling purposes, in view of the fact that the telephone system comprises no source of current supply.

While a signaling system of the type described comprising both a telephone system and an associated buzzer system is reasonably satisfactory in service, it is more expensive both to manufacture and to install than is desirable.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved telephone system of the directly connected electromagnetic or sound-powered type, which has incorporated therein a signaling system and which requires no external source of current supply.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved telephone station apparatus for use in a telephone system of the directly connected electromagnetic or sound-powered type which comprises a combined mounting and signal device for a hand telephone.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved combined mounting and signal device. of the type referred to, which is of simple and rugged construction, which is economical to manufacture and which is thoroughly reliable in operation.

The objects set forth above are attained in accordance with the present invention by providing a combined mounting and signal device for a hand telephone of the sound-powered type having a speech diaphragm; which device comprises a fixture, an arrangement for supporting the hand telephone on the fixture, a signal diaphragm carried by the fixture, an operative arrangement for vibrating the signal diaphragm and an arrangement for coupling the speech diaphragm of the Usually, a separate. buzzer syshand telephone and the signal diaphragm by an air column when the hand telephone is supported on the fixture, whereby the hand telephone transmits a corresponding signal over an associated telephone line when the'signal diaphragm is vibrated while the hand telephone is supported on the fixture.

The novel features believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of a combined mounting and signal device for a hand telephone, which is constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the device shown in Fig. 1, illustrating certain of the operating elements thereof; Fig. 3 is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of the device further illustrating certain of the operating elements thereof; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a telephone circuit incorporating two of the devices.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the drawings, there is shown a combined mounting and signal device II! for a hand telephone illustrated at I l. The hand telephone 11 comprises an insulating handle 12 provided with a receiver cup or casing I3, housing a first sound translating device, not shown, constituting I a receiver unit, and a transmitter cup or casing 1 1, housing a second sound translating device, not shown, constituting a transmitter unit. Preferably, the two sound translating devices are substantially identical and are of the electromagnetic or sound-powered type, each including a speech diaphragm, whereby no external source of current supply is required in the associated telephone circuit. For example, each of the sound translating devices may be of the general type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,100,500, Al-

bert E. Woodruff and Hans Sengebusch, granted The invention, both as tends upwardly and continues upwardly and rearwardly, a substantially centrally disposed opening 20 surrounded by an adjacent annular depression 2| being provided in the upwardly and rearwardly extending portion of the front wall I9. A signal diaphragm 22 and a substantially U-shaped supporting bracket 23 are arranged within the housing and secured to the inner surface of the front wall I9 adjacent the opening 2|] provided therein by a number of screws 24, whereby the signal diaphragm 22 is disposed in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the opening 20 provided in the front wall I9. A trunnion 25 projecting toward the signal diaphragm 22 is rigidly secured to the supporting bracket 23, a pinion 26 and a fluted disc 21 being rotatably mounted upon the trunnion 25, the pinion 26 and the disc 27 being rigidly secured together and disposed between the supporting bracket 23 and the signal diaphragm 22. More particularly, the fluted disc 2'! is disposed closely adjacent the signal diaphragm 22 in cooperating relationship with respect to a pin 28 carried thereby.

Also, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, a bell crank 29 is arranged within the housing and pivotally mounted upon a, trunnion 38 secured to the inner surface of the front wall I9. The bell crank 29 comprises first and second radially spaced-apart arms 3| and 32 which are on one side of the housing adjacent the junction between the front housing section I5 and the rear housing section I6. Also, the bell crank 29 comprises a third radially spaced-apart arm 35 which cooperates with a helical coil spring 35,

one end of the spring 36 being anchored to a pin 37 carried by the inner surface of the front wall I8 and the other end of the spring 36 being fixed in an opening 38 provided in the outer end of the arm 35, whereby the bell crank 29 is biased .in a counterclockwise direction about the trunnion 33, as viewed in Fig. 3. It is noted that the teeth provided on the segment 33 cooperate with the teeth provided on the pinion 23, whereby the pinion 26 and the fluted disc 21 rigidly secured thereto are rotated in a clockwise direction about the trunnion 25 when the handle 34 of the bell crank 29 is depressed, in order to cause the bell crank 29 to be rotated in a clockwise direction about the trunnion 313 against the bias of the spring 36. When the handle 34 is released the bell crank 29 is returned in the counterclockwise direction by the spring 36, thereby to cause the pinion 26 and the fluted disc 2'! rigidly secured thereto to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction about the trunnion 25. The rotation of the fluted disc 2'! in either direction causes intermittent engagement thereof with the pin 28 carried by the signal diaphragm 22, whereby the signal diaphragm 22 is set into vibration.

An annular gasket 38, formed of soft flexible rubber or the like, is disposed in the annular depression M in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the outer surface of the front wall :9. Also, an outwardly and upwardly extending fixture 4B is secured to the front wall I3 by two screws 4|, the fixture 49 being bifurcated to provide two outwardly and upwardly extending arms '42 and 43 providing a substantially semi-circular cradle adapted to receive and support the receiver casing I3 of the hand telephone II. In

aid

this connection, it is noted that the hand telephone I I comprises an ear piece 44 carried by the adjacent receiver casing I3, which has an opening formed therein communicating between the speech diaphragm of the receiver unit mounted in the receiver casing I3 and the exterior, and a mouthpiece 45 carried by the adjacent transmitter casing I4, which has an opening formed therein communicating between the speech diaphragm of the transmitter unit mounted in the transmitter casing I4 and the exterior. The device Iii, particularly the front wall I9 of the front casing section I5 and the fixture 40, is so constructed and arranged that, when the telephone instrument II is supported upon the fixture 40, the rim of the ear piece 44 surrounding the opening provided therein is forced into firm engagement with the adjacent surface of the annular gasket 39 due to the weight of the telephone instrument I I, thereby to retain the ear piece 44 in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the gasket 39. Accordingly, when the telephone instrument II is supported upon the fixture 40, the speech diaphragm of the receiver unit mounted in the receiver casing I3 is coupled to the signal diaphragm 22 by a trapped air column therebetween.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, an insulating terminal block 46 is arranged within the housing of the device Ill and secured to the inner surface of the front wall I9. The terminal block 46 terminates both the line conductors of an insulated telephone cord 41, extending into the telephone instrument II, and the line conductors of an associated telephone line 48, as best shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

Considering now the general operation of the device in conjunction with the associated telephone circuit shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, when a. person at one of the telephone stations desires to communicate with a person at another of the telephone stations, he operates the handle 34 of the device I0 thereat one or more times: the handle 34 may be operated in accordance with an established code, thereby to signal a particular one of several telephone stations, in the event the associated telephone circuit comprises more than two telephone stations. When the handle 34 of the device II] at one of the telephone stations is thus operated the signal diaphragm 22 thereof is set into vibration, in the manner previously explained. The vibrating signal diaphragm 22 causes a corresponding vibration of the speech diaphragm of the receiver unit mountedin the receiver casing I3 of the hand telephone I I, when the hand telephone I I is supported upon the fixture 40 of the associated device I0. When the speech diaphragm of the receiver unit of the hand telephone II is thus vibrated a corresponding signal voltage is generated thereby, the receiver unit being of the electromagnetic or sound-powered type, whereby a corresponding signal current is transmitted by way of the associated telephone cord 41 over the connecting telephone line 48. The signal current transmitted over the connecting telephone line 48 causes operation of both the receiver unit and the transmitter unit of each hand telephone connected thereto, whereby a corresponding audible signal is reproduced at each telephone station connected to the telephone line 48, regardless of whether the other hand telephones II occupy their supported positions with respect to the devices ID at the other telephone stations. The call is answered at the called telephone station when the person thereat removes the hand telephone II thereat from its associated supported position with respect to the device It! at the called telephone station. At this time, the person at the calling telephone station may communicate with the person at the called telephone station directly as the telephone circuit comprises neither switching apparatus nor an external source of current supply, all of the hand telephones H being of the electromagnetic or sound-powered type, as previously noted.

In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that an improved combined mounting and signal device for a hand telephone of the electromagnetic or sound-powered type is provided, which is of extremely simple and economical construction and arrangement.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: e

1. A combined mounting and signal device for a sound translator of the type including a casing having an opening therein which communicates between a speech diaphragm mounted in the casing and the exterior; said device comprising a housing having a wall provided with an opening therein, a signal diaphragm disposed within said housing and mounted in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the adjacent inner surface of said wall surrounding the opening provided therein, a manually operable member carried by said housing and operative to vibrate said signal diaphragm, a fixture carried by said housing and adapted to receive and support the casing of the sound translator and to position the rim of the opening in the casing of the sound translator in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the adjacent outer surface of said wall surrounding the opening provided therein, whereby the speech diaphragm of the sound translator and said signal diaphragm are coupled by an air column when the casing of the sound translator is supported on said fixture, and an electrical terminal block for the sound translator disposed within said housing.

2. A combined mounting and signal device for a sound translator of the type including a casing having an opening therein which communicates between a speech diaphragm mounted in the casing and the exterior; said device comprising a housing having a wall provided with an opening therein, a signal diaphragm disposed within said housing and mounted in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the adjacent inner surface of said wall surrounding the opening provided therein, a flexible gasket carried by and in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the adjacent outer surface of said wall surrounding the opening provided therein, a manually operable member carried by said housing and operative to vibrate said signal diaphragm, and a fixture carried by said housing and adapted to receive and support the casing of the sound translator and to position the rim of the opening in the casing of the sound translator in substantially sealed relationship with respect to the adjacent surface of said gasket, whereby the speech diaphragm of the sound translator and said signal diaphragm are coupled by a trapped air column therebetween when the casing of the sound translator is supported on said fixture.

HERBERT F. OBERGFEL'L. 

